First on-street bicycle network markings installed on Town of Amherst streets
The first visible signs of the Town of Amherst’s Active Transportation Plan began showing up on July 9 when on-street bicycle network markings were painted on McCully and Park streets.
The markings consist of two arrows and a bicycle. They indicate the designated cycling routes in the town and are intended to remind motorists and cyclists to share the road safely.
Over the next few months, the markings will also appear on East and West Victoria streets, Anson Avenue, Industrial Park Drive and Willow Street.
The painting of the markings and installation of accompanying signage is one of four projects the town is undertaking over the next few months as it begins to implement the Active Transportation Plan that council approved earlier this spring.
The other projects are:
- A two-way, off-street, multi-use asphalt trail on South Albion Street between Robert Angus Drive and the Canadian Tire store;
- A two-way, off-street, multi-use gravel trail on Robert Angus Drive between Church and Willow streets, and;
- A two-way, off-street, multi-use gravel trail on Willow Street from Robert Angus Drive to East Pleasant Street.
The installation of this infrastructure will be installed by contractors and town staff,” Operations Department Director Jason MacDonald said.
The three off-street trails will be built in isolation, with each one opened upon its completion.
"We are currently in the design stage for these projects,” MacDonald said. “We expect to procure the South Albion Street trail first, followed by the trail on Robert Angus Drive and finally Willow Street.”
The “construction” of the shared bicycle network will be conducted in phases. The painting of the bicycle markings on the streets designated to be part of the network will
be carried out during dry weather, MacDonald said. Subsequently, and in some cases concurrently, the regulatory signage for the network will be installed. The last phase will see directional signage installed along the network.
“We expect work on the entire shared-bicycle network to take four to six months to complete,” MacDonald said.
Work on the section of the network on Willow and East Pleasant streets will be completed once the major street reconstruction project on these streets are completed in the fall.
